Tomales Bay Oyster Company

About Tomales Bay Oyster Company

Reviewed by Oyster Tasting Guide editorial team · June 2, 2026

Founded

1909, in Marshall, California — California's oldest continuously run shellfish farm

Earlier history

Eli Gordon of the Pacific Coast Oyster Company began the operation around 1907; beds planted from 1909

Location

Tomales Bay, near Marshall in West Marin, California

Species

Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas)

Cultivation

Floating / bottom culture; Golden Nuggets grown with a tidal tumbling system

Ownership

Owned and operated by Cathryn Irving and Heidi Gregory since 2017

Tomales Bay Oyster Company is California's oldest continuously run shellfish farm, established in 1909 on the shore of Tomales Bay near Marshall, in West Marin. Its history is woven into the broader story of oyster farming in the Bay Area: around 1907, Eli Gordon, operating as the Pacific Coast Oyster Company, brought his search for clean water to Tomales Bay, and oyster beds were planted starting in 1909. More than a century later, the farm is still working the same bay, a remarkable run of continuous operation.

The company also played a role in shaping West Coast oyster farming itself. In the farm's early decades, the introduction of the Pacific oyster from Japan transformed the industry, and the Pacific (Crassostrea gigas) went on to become the standard oyster of the West Coast. Today Tomales Bay Oyster Company grows Pacific oysters in the cold, clean, nutrient-rich water of the bay, the same merroir that has drawn oyster growers to Tomales for well over a century.

The modern farm took shape under Tod Friend, who bought the company in 2009 with the help of friends and family. Friend revamped the operation, cleaned up legacy gear left by earlier farmers, refined the floating farm methods, and enhanced the bayside picnic area that made the company a beloved destination. After Friend's death, Heidi Gregory and Cathryn Irving took over in 2017, keeping much of the same crew and carrying on in the spirit of what Friend had built.

The farm's signature oyster shows off its growing methods. The seasonal Tomales Bay Golden Nugget is a cocktail-sized oyster farmed in the company's cove on the north shore near Millerton Point, grown in a dynamic tumbling system that turns the oysters with every tide. That constant tumbling produces a deep-cupped, plump, ivory-fleshed oyster, while the bay's water gives it a clean, balanced flavor. Other Tomales Bay oysters express the same cold-water character in different sizes.

Beyond the oysters themselves, Tomales Bay Oyster Company is a West Marin institution and a working piece of California's coastal heritage. As the state's oldest continuously operating oyster farm, with roots reaching back to the very beginnings of West Coast aquaculture, it remains both a producer of distinctive Pacific oysters and a living link to more than a hundred years of oyster farming on Tomales Bay.